Contitution and Systems of the State Essays - Free Essays

Contitution and Systems of the State Essays - Free Essays Contitution and Systems of the State The California State Constitution establishes and describes the obligations, authority, organization and function of the California state government. The main articles of the California State Constitution deal with everything from establishment of personal rights, to governmental election processes, to procedures available to amend or revise the document. Many of the rights explained - and the procedures for election processes that are elucidated in the document - are in direct conjunction with that of the US Constitution. The California State Constitution also clarifies the services that the judicial, educational, and social systems of the state provide. The following should not only further introduce the main articles of the California State Constitution and compare their premises to those of the US Constitution, but should also identify the current effectiveness of the aforementioned state-provided judicial, educational and social systems. The first main article of the California State Constitution is Article one itself: Declaration of Rights (leginfo.ca.gov, n.d.). This article lays out the rights of California citizens and is very closely tied to the rights explained in the US Constitution, more specifically to the Bill of Rights. For instance, section two of Article one of the California Constitution deals with freedom of speech, assembly, and of press, as does the first amendment to the US Constitution (The Federal Convention, 1787). In fact most of the rights explained in the entire first Article of the California Constitution are direct replicas of the rights listed in the Bill of Rights. One exception is the sixth section, which prohibit slavery, a right not guaranteed by the US Constitution until the thirteenth amendment was ratified in 1865 (US Congress, 1865). Articles four through six are also of significance as they outline the three government branches that compose the State?s government body. Much like the US Constitutional outline, California has elected officials to Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches (leginfo.ca.gov, n.d.). The differences are in the actual positions. For instance, where the federal executive branch is made up of the President and his or her cabinet members, California?s executive branch consists of the Governor, as well as other elected state officers including the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Controller, Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Treasurer, and member of the State Board of Equalization (leginfo.ca.gov, n.d.). Proposition 140 was passed in 1990 and was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals in the case of Bates v. Jones consequently limited the available terms for state officers to two per position (Ballotpedia, 2010). This was just one of the many revisions to the original Constitution that has been made over the course of California?s history. Articles two and eighteen of the California Constitution outline the different ways changes can be made to the Constitution (Ballotpedia, 2010). California's constitution can be amended through statewide votes of the electorate, or through a process beginning with a constitutional convention (Ballotpedia, 2010). This also is relative to the US Constitution as it too can be amended or revised as seen fit by the citizens it embodies. Other important policies and procedures that are laid out in the California Constitution have to do with the systems set in place by the government in order to assist California citizens in judicial, educational and social matters. The Judicial system, which is outlined in Article 6 of the Constitution, is made up of the Supreme court, courts of appeal, and superior courts of the State (leginfo.ca.gov, n.d.). There are six superior court districts divided between the 57 counties of California, which have general subject matter jurisdiction and handle both civil and criminal cases (Guide to California Law, n.d.). The responsibility of the California court of appeal is to identify errors made at the superior court level and to remedy those cases. The California Supreme Court is the highest court in the state, and is the rule-making body for the state court system. The seven justices that compose the California Supreme Court are the final decision-makers in California?s judicial matters and their decisions may only be appealed to the United States Federal Supreme Court if there is a federal issue involved (Guide to California Law, n.d.). The educational system in California is outlined in Article nine of the